Every Family has a Secret
by xXyaoi.playerXx
Summary: the story is about an OC and her journey with the characters from the mortal instruments. it takes place a couple months after city of lost souls. i dont really care bout OOCness. rated T for further chapters. [[DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE]]
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Run. Faster, faster. Run, run, run. _I let my legs do all the work. They already knew where to go. I slowed up some when the abandoned schoolhouse came into view. I strode into the area, expecting anything, everything. I walked silently to heart of the building. "Come out, come out, where ever you are…" I said loud enough to echo throughout the building. I was expecting a fight with a demon, even a Downworlder, but not what happened.

As soon as the words echoed, the two came out. I could tell the smaller one was proud and full of himself; from his golden blond hair to his tawny eyes all the way down his slightly tanned, muscular body. The other, taller one, was, however, quiet and almost frightening. His blue eyes were the only color in his monochromatic style; from his jet black hair to his all black apparel. As I looked over them, how they stood together, how they seemed ready to pounce, how they both wore all black, the blond opened his mouth. "Oops, looks like we've been caught."

That irked me. Failing to stay silent and to continue my mission, I replied "Yo, Blondie, sarcasm isn't needed here."

"You're right. How about we all go to Taki's and talk?"

"Sure thing, Blondie," I put emphasis on his new nickname, already knowing he had a problem with it.

We walked together until we got to the restaurant. I followed them to a booth and sat across from them. I folded my hands on the table and waited for the conversation to start. As if having sensed this, the one with the blue eyes looked at me and started. "Who and what are you?"

"I am Nephilim, as are you two. As for my name, it's Katrina," I calmly replied. They looked at each other, and then back to me.

Blondie folded his arms and locked eyes with me, "Well, Ka~tri~na, my name isn't Blondie; it's Jace." I nodded. I still was intent on calling him Blondie, though.

Then I looked to the other one. My eyes seeming to tell him to introduce himself. He looked at his hands, which were in his lap, and quietly said to me, "I am Alexander Lightwood, but I go by Alec." I nodded.

"Well, Alec, I see an excellent friendship in our future," I saw him blush right before I turned to Jace, "as for you, Blondie, I see a okay relationship with you. Now that we know each other, let's talk." I let the silence drop for a moment. "Okay, since you two wont talk, I will. You know my name and what I am. You have no idea why I'm here, although I just met you, I will tell you. Two things. First, I'm here on a mission. Second, I'm looking for Magnus Bane." Alec tensed up at the name and a look of pain overcame him. Jace just sat there and glared at me.

"What the hell do you want with him?" Jace asked through gritted teeth.

"It's personal," I said and looked away.

I expected Blondie to speak up, but I was gladly surprised when Alec got up from the booth. "I take you to see him, Katrina," I got up and nodded my head in thanks.

We were doing one of the most dangerous things you could do in New York; walking the streets late at night. After a minute or two, Alec asked a question I had been anticipating. "Why do you want to see Magnus?" I could tell he was in pain.

"Well, ya' see…" I stopped him. I raised a finger to my lips, "I have a secret," I worked a little magic so my eyes could flash. Alec stepped back. His face full of shock.

"Th-those are Magnus' eyes!" He said this just as my eyes were settling back to there normal brown.

"Yeah, I know. I inherited them," I said dejectedly. He gave me a puzzled look. "Magnus Bane is my…father."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the mortal instruments. I wish I did, but I don't.

**Chapter 2**

"Wh-what?" Alec stammered. "I mean I've known him for how long and I'm just now learning that he has a family. I mean-" I looked into his cerulean eyes as I removed my hand from his mouth. I sighed.

"You now know that Magnus is my father, but don't assume he does. If he did, would you see me roaming New York with a guy I just met looking for him?" I folded my arms across my chest. "Now, let's get going," I started walking, but I stopped when I noticed I was walking alone. I turned back to Alec. "I'm going the wrong way, aren't I?" He just nodded. I quickly caught up with him and noticed he was trying not to laugh. It was quite a sight.

After a while we came to a stop. I looked at the door, then to Alec. As if knowing what I was going to ask, Alec shook his head. "No. I'm not going in there."

"Please, I don't wanna go in alone! Come with me, please!" I pouted like a little child.

"No, Katrina. I haven't seen nor heard from Magnus in months, and I don't plan to have our reunion with his child,"

That made up my mind. I took in a deep, deep breathe, "Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, plea-"

"Alright, alright! I'll go in with you, you damn brat," I smiled. I walked to the front door with Alec right behind me. I knocked. No answer. I knocked again. Still no answer. I was bout to knock again when a hand stopped me. It was Alec. "I have a spare we can use," he pulled out a key and pushed it into the lock. He turned it until he heard the click saying it was unlocked, then he opened the door.

I stepped under his arm and into the home. "Thanks," I muttered. As I stand in the room I saw barley any color, or furniture for that matter. I looked back at Alec who was taking in what he saw. Out of no where, I grabbed his hand and held it like there was no tomorrow. He looked at our hands then at me. As he turned away, I saw him blush.

"Who is there?" I heard a different voice call out. I motioned Alec to keep quite.

"I'm looking for Magnus Bane," I said calmly, but I squeezed Alec's hand a little tighter.

"And what the hell do you want with him?" The voice was coming closer. I could also here foot steps.

"A chance to meet him, and possibly talk with him. Mister, please, all I ask his for a few moments of his attention,"

"Is that all?" The voice chuckled. "Well, I guess you can have that," As those words reached my ears, a third person entered the room me and Alec were occupying. His eyes fell on the man who I was holding hands with. There eyes meet, and it was an unannounced race to see who could talk first.

After a short eternity of silence, Magnus spoke up first. One word was all he could muster, "Alec?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the mortal instruments. I wish I did, but I don't.

**Chapter 3**

"Uh-oh," I instantly paled. "Umm, sir, you are Magnus Bane, correct?" I tried to take the attention off my new-found friend. The yellow cat eyes turned onto my face.

"I am he," I looked into the eyes that seemed to glow in the dim lighting. "Who might you be?"

"I am Katrina Battlewright," I said meekly.

"Okay… 'Battlewright', where have I heard that name before…"

"My mother," I said it under my breath, but it wasn't enough to stop him from hearing.

"I don't know your mother!" Magnus's voice boomed.

I don't know why, but I snapped. "Well you knew her enough to screw her! I bet after a week of having her as a sex-toy you grew tired of her! You left her all alone one morning! I grew up with 'I hope he calls'; 'He just left; just like that'; or my favorite 'I hope that sonuvabitch that is your father crawled in a ditch and DIED!'. So tell me again that you don't know my mother, Jessica Battlewright!" I got off on his shocked expression. I almost got mad enough to use Blue Fire on him. If it weren't for Alec's arm holding me back, I probably would have beat him to a bloody pulp with a string of profanities come from my mouth; all of it, just because he did that to my mother.

"Jessica… Battlewright…" His eyes grew wider with realization. Then he looked at me. "Y-your mother, she wasn't talking about me, was she?"

"The one and only," I gave a mock bow to him.

"Oh shit," He looked me straight in the eye. "How old are you?"

"Almost 15," My temper had gone down quite a bit, but I wouldn't let him know that. Not after what he did to mom. No, he would suffer.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god. It all fits together, oh god," as the words left his lips, he paced the floor and ran his fingers through his raven hair. Alec's arm tightened around me, and then he started to tug me. He took me outside. Then he looked at me.

"Don't you think that was a little hard on him? I mean, you could have eased it to him instead of dropping the bomb on him," He waited in the silence for me to give him an answer.

I sighed, "I know I should have been more nice to Magnus, but I-I don't know, I guess I just kinda flipped out," I felt like a child and I guess I was, seeing that Alec was at least three years older.

"You're right. You did flip out. But, I wanna know why?"

"He said he didn't know my mom. I grew having to hear her complain about him, like he was worth waiting for, and then he says he doesn't know my mom, then I flipped," I looked down at my shoes, not able to look into his eyes. I felt something deep inside me whenever I looked into those extraordinary blue eyes.

"Oh," I glanced up at him, and saw him staring at me. He looked away. I don't know why, but I had the sudden need to be closer. I got so close to him we could touch, but didn't.

"Alec," I whispered. I wanted him to look at me, at us. He turned to face me then blushed when he saw how close we were. Out here with only him, I finally noticed that Alec towered a couple inches over me. In the silence, the feeling inside me grew and spread. After a second or two, I got up on my tippy-toes and pressed my mouth to his. It was just lip-to-lip contact, for a while. Alec parted my lips, and eased his tongue into my mouth. I sighed into the kiss, and every time he hit a sweet spot, I would press into him. After a minute I broke the kiss, and took a step back. I looked at the blush that Alec wore and felt I had it on, too.

**Author's Note:** Hah! Alec was/is gay. Will I change that? Maybe.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the mortal instruments. I wish I did, but I don't.

**Chapter 4**

"Umm… We should, uh.." I was actually at lost for words. Alec could tell.

"We should head inside, so you can apologize to Magnus," Alec said as he lead me back inside. We saw Magnus sitting on the couch, his head in his hands. Alec was instantly at his side, trying to soothe my father. Magnus turned toward Alec and captured his lips with forceful kiss. I stood still, watching the scene unfold before me. Alec instantly responded by closing his eyes. The kiss deepened, and their mouths moved as their tongues were undoubtedly dancing. Magnus' eyes glanced at me saying 'He is mine' before they closed. As Magnus continued to kiss Alec, his hands roamed the smaller boy's body, finally resting on Alec's hips. The display brought tears to my eyes, but this was not the end of my torture. Alec then wrapped his arms around Magnus' neck; that broke my heart.

"I can see that every thing here is fine and dandy," they both looked at me. When Alec noticed my tears, he tried to untangle himself from Magnus. "Alec, I don't need your help. Thanks," I gave a small, tear-filled smile before running out of there.

I turned down different streets, trying to get as lost as possible. I was crying as I ran, so much that I hadn't noticed the guy in front of me until I had run write into him. "I'm s-so s-so-sorry," I said through my tears.

"It's okay," He said it in a fatherly way that made me comfortable round him, so comfortable that I didn't squirm away when he hugged me. I tried not to look into his blue eyes because of what just went down, but I eased up as I cried onto his flannel shoulder. After about 5 minutes, I stopped crying. I looked up into his gentle blue eyes, "Thank you, sir. You have a good soul for being so father-like to a girl who you hardly know," I smiled weakly. He looked into my eyes from behind his spectacles. "You are a Shadowhunter, right?" I was caught off guard by his sudden question.

"Y-yes. Why do ask?"

"I know this will sound weird, but I can smell Nephilim and Warlock on you, so I wanted to know which one you were."

"You're a Downworlder then? I mean, how else would you know what Shadowhunters and Warlocks are, let alone what they smell like."

"You're right I am a Downworlder, a pretty important one, too," he stuck out his hand so we could shake. "Luke Garroway, nice to meet ya'," I couldn't believe this. Luke Garroway was the Werewolves' council representative. If I told him my name I would be taken to a holding cell until the Clave could get a hold on me, but I don't want to lie to him. So I took my chances, and shook his hand with a smile, "It's very nice to meet you, but I'm sorry that I must make of a dash," I let go of his hand and ran very fast and far. I was hoping my old-time friend was still in the same residence.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **If you guys want me to do other POVs, just tell me who you want. Otherwise im just gonna continue on with Katrina's POV.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the mortal instruments. I wish I did, but I don't.

**Chapter 5**

I stood in front of the house. I noticed the Stars of David painted on the door. Tefillin and the symbol for _Chai _were also there, but the _hamsa_ is what caught my attention the most. I knocked loudly on the door. Ms. Lewis' voice rang out from behind the door, "Go away, you monster!" I could hear the hate and pain in her voice.

"Ms. Lewis! Ms. Lewis, it's me, Katrina!" I heard her un lock the deadbolt then she opened the door as far as the chain lock would allow. I smiled and gave a small wave.

"Are you alone? Are you a monster, too?" She seemed so different from when I was a toddler.

"I am alone and I am not a monster," I said carefully. She looked over me for a moment, then closed the door, only to open it again.

"Here, come in, quickly," she ushered me in. She sent a out a quick glance before closing the door. She looked back at me and smiled. "My, my, my, Katrina," she hugged me like I was a long lost daughter to her, but I guess it would be appropriate, knowing our past. When she released her death grip of a hug, she took my face into her hands, "Look at you, so grown up and very beautiful. You look like your mother, you know that? Of course you do! Speaking of your mother, how is she?" I felt my blood grow cold, remembering that horrible nightmare… I looked at the woman who was the most like my mother in this crisis.

"She… She's… dead," I barely whispered it, but none the less, she heard the words. She rubbed her thumb under my eye, wiping away tears I hadn't known were falling. I looked at her, then suddenly I remembered why I came here. "Ms. Lewis," I turned around, and ultimately out of her grasp; I headed towards Simon's room, "Ms. Lewis is Simon here?" I entered his room and flopped onto his bed. I looked at how his roomed changed. His mom stood outside his doorway, a look of sadness and pain on her face.

"Katrina, Simon has left this household and this family. I will warn you about the monster, though. It is purely evil, taking the life of innocents and wearing his face. Do not be deceived by this monster," she told me sternly. I simply nodded. Her eyes softened. "It was all because of that other girl. If only you had stayed, maybe he could have loved you instead," I looked at her and saw tears fall. _This is my chance_, I thought.

"Ms. Lewis, do you want me to kill the monster?" I was hoping for a yes; I terribly needed to kill something to clear my head. I wanted to forget what happened between my father and Alec.

"Please. I want my son's spirit to be at rest," she said through her tears. I stood up and said my goodbyes. I refused her prayers over me, but gladly accepted her watery smile as she wished me good luck.

As I was walking away from the house, rather slowly compared to my usual pace. "Katrina? Katrina, is that you?" a voice from behind me called out. I turned to see how it was when I was greeted with a familiar face.

"Simon?" I was happy to see him. He nodded when his smile grew bigger. I ran to him and glomped him. "Long time, no see, huh?"

He got an arm out of my death grip, and messed up my hair. "Kitty, why do you seem so happy to see me? I mean, last time we talked it ended pretty badly…" I looked up at him as I remembered another ugly memory. Then the mood changed as he grabbed my hand and started to tug me, "Come on, I have just the spot to go," he half dragged me away to his destination in mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **ok, I've done this for a few chapters now, so I think you guys get this by now.

**Chapter 6**

Simon slowed down as we came to the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park. I looked at him in the almost darkness. "Why are we here?" He didn't say anything. "Simon?"

He looked into my eyes. "I want the truth, Katrina," I gulped. He almost never used my name. I knew he meant business. I sighed.

"Well, my name is Katrina Nicolette Battlewright. I am almost fifteen. I am part Shadowhunter, part Warlock. I lived in Manhattan from birth until I was five, when I moved to Texas. I lived with my mother on a orchard farm. I started my Shadowhunter training at age 9. I started to do missions at age 12. The next year I went into Black Market dealings, doing missions for costumers so I could help my mom. A couple weeks ago my mother was brutally murdered. I came to New York a couple days ago to find my dad, but I was also on a mission. I met up with 2 other Shadowhunters shortly after I arrived in New York, Jace and Alec. We went to Taki's where we talked. Afterward, Alec took me to see Magnus Bane, my father. I blew my cap when I was about to tell him he was my dad. I was going to hit him, but then Alec took me outside to scold me which ended in me kissing him. When the kiss ended we went back inside, and saw a distressed Magnus. Alec went to comfort him and that ended with them making out on the couch in front of me. After watching that I ran out of there crying. As I was running I ran into Luke Garroway, literally. I had a 5 minute crying session on his shoulder before I thanked him and he introduced himself. I told him it was a pleasure to meet him and ran to your old house before he could pry my name out of me. When I was on your doorstep I knew something was wrong when I saw all the relics. Then your mother came and we had our reunion. She said a monster stole her son's face. I said I would kill it for her, then I saw you, and now here we are," I gestured around with my hands. He looked at me with wide eyes.

"My mom was talking about me when she asked you to kill the monster!" he started to panic.

"Now, why would she do that?"

"Because while you were ignoring me," I cringed at those words, knowing the truth behind the them, "I was turned into a vampire!"

"No need to panic, your mother never paid me. I only took the mission because I needed to clear my head. I can always decline,"

He looked at me as his panic subsided. Without thinking I brushed his dark, curly hair out of his chocolate eyes. He stared at me. While I was out of my rightful mind, two words came out of my mouth, "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" He took my face into his hands, forcing cold eyes to meet warm ones. I looked down.

"I was horrible to you. I was in no position to ignore you like that. It was me being jealous. I felt like you replaced me with that other girl. I was a total bitch to you. I, I just felt my blood boil when you went on and on about her. I didn't mean it when I said I hated you. I flipped out, I guess," I felt tears well up in my eyes.

"I know you didn't mean it. And don't ever think that Clary could replace you, ever. And I'm sorry, too. I should've thought about your feelings, it was just that Clary was my first crush and best friend," I looked at him, "Not that your not my best friend, too," I chuckled as he tried to stop me from crying.

We ended up falling onto the grass laughing. I looked up at the starry night sky. "You know, in Texas, you can see 3 times as many stars at night? When things at home got bad I would run away to the old willow tree in the meadow, I would stay there until the until the next day, watching the sky. During that time I would remember things we did together. I remember the competitions we had the most clearly. My favorite ones were the ones where we had to climb the trees the fastest. Do you remember that?" I turned towards him. He was on his side looking at me. "What?"

"I'm wondering," his voice seemed distant even though he was only about 2 feet away from me. I turned onto my side and mirrored his position.

"About?"

He closed the small distance between us. His face was an inch from mine. "If I should do this," he leaned in an gently placed his lips on mine.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I am not claiming I own Cassandra Clare's wonderful story.

**Chapter 7**

His lips rested on mine for a moment or two. It was different from other kisses I got from people in my life. It held all the same amount of passion, but the gesture was more gentle. I reveled in the moment until, I was snapped back into reality by the cool lips being removed.

I looked into his chocolate eyes, "What was that for?" I asked. If vampires could blush, I'm pretty sure Simon would have an attractive dusting on his face. He seemed flustered while getting up of the grass.

"Well, uh, I really wanted to, um, let you, uh, know how I really ,uh, feel about you…" he said when he finally got up. He extended a hand to me seeing I was still on the grass. I looked at him and sprung to me feet quickly and gracefully. He chuckled and stuck his hand in his back pocket. "So feline like. Hey where are staying at while you're in town?" I shrugged my shoulders. Then he proceeded to think out loud, "I don't think you would be willing to return to my old house. I don't think Jordan or Maia would be very happy if I brought you to the apartment. You don't want to be at Magnus' flat right now because from the sounds of it, when you left they were making out, most likely they would be going at it if you returned to the area. And if I sent you to Clary's, Luke would undoubtedly recognize you. So, I guess the only safe place for you is the Institute," he said, pulling his cell phone out.

I sighed. In Texas I visited an Institute once or twice and never really liked it. Simon, though, I trusted; so if he was sending me to the Institute, I would go. He turned to me, "Jace is on his way to get you," he said.

"Whaa-!? You asked _Blondie _to get me?!" I was expecting this, but still!

"Look, I only did this because you guys share a similar history, somewhat," he replied in a voice calmer than mine, but not exactly serene.

"What do I share with him?" I was intrigued. The thought that another Shadowhunter had a past similar to mine peaked my interest.

"His father was murdered before his eyes when he was 10," he said sadly. I felt pity for the blonde now, all because while we did experience the same tragedy, he was still so young at the time.

I managed to get a feeble "oh" out when the information settled in my mind. But by then, Jace had shown up. He took a look at me and my downcast and submissive aura, and then proceeded to look at Simon. "What happened to her?" he asked and pointed at me. Then he turned to me, "Did Simon do something to you? 'Cause I don't care if he's Clary's best-"

"I'm fine," I said as I smiled, putting forth my excellent acting skills. He seemed surprised that I cut him off.

"Are you sure, 'cause last time we met, you had this 'oh-I-may-be-new-but-I'm-still-the-alpha' feeling around you and now you are all depressed and stuff," I nodded. "okay," and on that note we began walking.

After a few blocks of silence, I spoke up. "Simon said we had something in common."

"And what exactly would that be?" His golden eyes seemed to doubt my words.

"That we both saw our parents murdered before our eyes…" I said it ever so quietly. He looked at me in shock. I looked back. His eyes weren't filled with laughter like they usually are.

Slowly he started to tell his story, "I was 10. There were these guys that came to the door, and my father told me to hide. I did, under the stairs. From where I was I saw the scene perfectly. It terrified me when then blood soaked into my shoes. After that I came here to live with adoptive family. It was enjoying my life until my father showed up again only to say that the girl I am in love with was my sister. I was upset about that, yes, but it ticked me off even more knowing that the bastard was alive and kept me thinking he was dead for 7 years. I felt a fake sense of belonging but that ended when I found out he killed my real father, pretended he wasn't who he was, and that his REAL son was off flirting with my girl. But, even when I knew that I couldn't kill him. He wasn't my real father, but he was the only one I had. In the end though, he died, the guys that supposedly killed him died, and my sorta brother is somewhere out there," He finished up what he was saying. "How about you, what's your story?" he asked genuinely.

I took a deep, shaky breath, and when I exhaled I noticed Jace's hand on my arm. Somehow, though, it was reassuring. "A couple weeks ago, when I was in Texas, I saw my mom murdered. I was in the kitchen with her; she was reading a romance novel and I was cooking Italian for dinner. The doorbell rang and we went to go see who it was. I thought it was our neighbors or someone from town. When the door was open, two guys were there. One of them ran in and stood behind me, holding my arms behind me with one hand. The other hand held a knife, which was at my throat. I then noticed the other had my mother on the ground, she looked at me and smiled. The one by my mom, made a rude remark about the love he saw. What happened next was what terrified me; he took out a short sword and impaled her with it, barely missing her heart, then he twisted the weapon and pulled it out. It slid out covered in crimson, he repeatedly continued this. I tried to move, to get to her, but the man holding me was practically made of steel, so every time I moved the metal bit into my neck. Then my mom fell with a sickening _thud_ into a pool of her own blood. _'Vale, Jessica Battlewright,'_ they spat out mockingly and left the house laughing after that. I knew then that they were rouge Shadowhunters, and as far as I'm concerned, fair game. But, the first thing I had to do was go to my mother. I kneeled down next to her and took her hand. She opened her eyes halfway and gave me a small, weak smile. I smiled back as tears fell from my eyes. '_Find… your…father…'_ I nodded and promised to do so. The last words I said to her were '_I love you, Mommy'. _After I said that she smiled once more and died. I let out a heartbreaking scream, and stormed out the door. Shortly I found the two guys deemed responsible for her death, and killed them before they could even see me. After that I went back home changed my blood stained clothes into clean ones, packed my niceties, and ran. I wound up here," I gestured around. I now noticed I was crying but made no effort to wipe away the tears. I looked at Jace and noticed the tears rolling down his face.

What happened next was something I desperately needed. Jace hugged me. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me as a big brother would, so I hugged him back. He tried to comfort me by stroking my hair. It worked, too. He whispered "I'm so sorry" as he did it. When the tears stopped we finally noticed where we were. He lead me up to the building. I saw past the glamour easily, and when we entered the building was shocked with temperature.

I was silent as we walked through the first floor, when on the elevator, I looked at Jace. He seemed exactly like the big brother I always longed for. "Hey, could you be, like, my big brother, or something?" I asked. He looked at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm gonna be living in New York now, as we know. And with the loss I just I had, I kinda want some family reassurance, but I already talked with my dad, and that didn't end very well. And Simon he is a best friend, but I cant say he is like a brother to me, where as you are. And so I thought you could be my brother."

He thought a moment and said a quick yes as his final answer. The elevator doors opened up. First he showed me his room, then an empty guest room which would serve as my room. "My room is just across the hall, knock if anything is wrong, okay?" I nodded and he smiled. "Sweet dreams, little sister," he said as he parted.

"Good night, big brother!" I quietly yelled after him. I left the door open, turned of the lights and crawled into bed. I fell asleep almost instantly.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** Cassie Clare owns the original thing, this is just my own little fan fiction.

**Chapter 8**

I opened my eyes slowly, then shot up straight when I noticed it was an actual room. I was starting to panic. During my minor breakdown, I heard a voice in the hallway just outside my room.

"What is she doing here?" I knew that I knew the voice, but my groggy mind had trouble processing who it was. I finally took a look around the barren room and then last night's events came to light.

"She need a place to stay. You, better than others, should know that Shadowhunters are always, ALWAYS, welcome at the Institute. I mean, your family does run it, Alec," _Alec, so you are the voice from earlier,_ I thought to myself as Jace said the name.

"But couldn't you take her some other room? Why did you have to bring her to this corridor? We have hundreds for people to choose from, and I would have thought she would want someplace secluded and alone and away from other people," Alec whined. _Oh great, he has PMS._

"Well sor-ry if I thought she should be near her big brother in case she needed me. For God's sake, Alec, the girl's been traumatized,"

"Since when are you two related?" Alec's cold voice rung out. "And what has her so freaking traumatized that she, who showed no sign of friendliness towards you the first met, suddenly wants to sleep across the hall from you?" I had enough of just listening of this argument over me. I got out of bed and walked out the open door and into the hallway. I saw the two standing there, and before I could get self conscious about being in only a white tee shirt, I defended my brother.

"You want to know what has me traumatized? I don't think you could understand, but I'll tell you if you want to know. Life. My stupid, messed up, hell of a life is what has me traumatized. My father abandoned my mom. I watched my mom murdered and couldn't do a damned thing about it except take a rightful justice to the sonuvabitch Shadowhunters who were responsible for it. I have been working since I was 12 to support my mom, myself, and surplus. Then I came here, I took a wrong first step in me and my father's relationship. I kissed this guy that I really liked and then saw him make out with my father literally right after that, which utterly crushed my hopes of him liking me back. Then said guy notices me again only after tears come into play. I also ran into a man, who if knowing who I really was, wouldn't have been as fatherly and nice to me as he was. Now, my best friend's mother wants me to kill him, which I did not know at the time. When my best friend and I talk, he tells me this. After I tell him I don't know where I could stay while I'm here, he tells Jace where we are and to come take me to the Institute. We had a good heart-to-heart, which brought ugly memories up to the spotlight of my mind. Now you know the whole freaking story, happy?" I don't know why I was so pissed off at him, but I was, and it felt _**good **_to speak to him like that. I noticed that Alec's face went pale during my story. I turned to my brother, and he seemed shocked at my outburst, too.

"You called me- you said Jace!" I was attacked by his arms in a strangling hug.

"N-no air," I choked out. His grip loosed. "I like your real name, but I usually call people by nicknames, so don't be acting like I said my first words if this happens again," I remembered that Alec was still there. I faced him. I glared at him for a couple seconds then I notice my clothing. _My runes,_ raced across my mind as I ran back into my room.

I leaned against the door as it closed. I let out a sigh of relief. "I don't think they saw," I said to no one in particular. I looked for a mirror. I went into the adjacent bathroom; I stood in front of the big mirror. I let my thick, curly, brown hair out of the messy up-do and cascade down to where it rested at the bottom of my lower back. I looked at the reflection. I saw the regular black, still runes that any Shadowhunter would have. But those were not what I was afraid to reveal. I pulled my hair over my shoulder as I turned around. I craned my neck to see my back in the mirror, seeing that my shirt had nothing to cover that area. I had a bunch of silvery and gold shimmering runes on my back. There was two of each rune to make the design symmetrical. The design was a pair of wings. What compelled me to keep them secret was that they moved. They always stayed on my back and in the design, but the actual **rune **runes were never in the same place I saw them last. And the only reason I had to clarify about my runes is because I have these gear-like runes that are always in the same place and always spinning. I only ever had these on my back; while they were my secret, that was only part of the reason. The other part was that they ran the whole length. From the arch of the wings at my shoulder blades all they way down to the tips at the very end of my back, stopping right above my ass. I stared at my reflection like I was in a trance. Finally, a knocking at my door pulled me into reality. I put my hair back to its natural place on my back covering my secret. I pulled on my black skinny jeans as I yelled "Coming,"

I was about to open the door when another knock resounded. I opened the door. Alec stood there. Quiet greetings were exchanged quickly. After a moment of silence and looking up at him, I felt my blood start to boil. "Are you gonna just stand there or tell me why you're here?"

He looked into my eyes. I was going to say something snappy or sarcastic if it were not that he cupped my face and gave a abrupt kiss to my forehead. "I do like you," he whispered to me. He turned and started to walk away as I stood and looked after him. "Follow me if you want breakfast," he called back towards me. I ran to his side at the mention of food. As we walked, my mind finally registered what had happened prior an I blushed. Alec chuckled at the reverse of positions. I quickly looked him, and we continued our way as if nothing happened.


End file.
